Jets QB Geno Smith tosses 3 picks in minicamp practice

Two of those interceptions came in the red zone, where quarterbacks must capitalize on opportunities to be successful. Despite his mistakes, Jets coach Todd Bowles stayed mostly complimentary of Smith.

"He's been making some good decisions," said Bowles. "I think his growth is coming along pretty good."

Jets G Willie Colon critical of QB Geno Smith

"We bought a Porsche. We've given him the keys. He can't crash it," Colon told Sirius XM. "Bottom line, he can't crash it. We need him to be on top of his game."

If Smith has already been on top of his game, the Jets made quite a mistake when they drafted him to be their starter in 2013. The team is 11-18 with him in that role and he owns a career quarterback rating of 71.5.

"Geno's career right now is extremely turbulent," Colon added. "He was never ready to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets. ... He was thrown into the fire, and he was forced to cook. Everybody knows in this league, to be a quarterback, which is the number one position on the field, it's a maturation process you have to go through.

"... Now, Geno, with that said, has made his mistakes. He's said some things where you look at him like, 'What are you talking about?' But I think that's all about his maturation period."

Former Jet Garrard: Geno Smith too 'worried about outside noise'

by Ruben Palacios | Staff Writer

(5/29/15) Jets quarterback Geno Smith has had a tumultous start to his career, to say the least. In his first two years in the league, Smith has underperformed while consistently turning the ball over.

Former Jets quarterback and backup to Smith, David Garrard says he knows why Smith has struggled to live up to the hype he had coming out of West Virginia, per ESPN.com.

"I definitely think Geno has the ability to be a pretty good quarterback. I just think sometimes he’s worried about the outside noise," Garrard said. "He’s worried about what his teammates think, what his coaches think, what the media thinks, what the fans think and he’s not just concentrating on his game and just making the plays that he should be making. You can see a lot of times in practice and in the meeting room, he’s spot on; he knows exactly what to do. But he has moments where he’s not doing that."

Smith threw for 2,525 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 14 games last season.

Jets quarterback Geno Smith will enter training camp competing for the starting job with Ryan Fitzpatrick. He should be considered the favorite as the incumbent, but Fitzpatrick has a history with new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. If the Smith who showed up in Week 17 last season against Miami -- 358 passing yards and three touchdowns -- can show some consistency, we could be looking at a Fantasy stud. But Smith has been anything but consistent in two seasons, which is why there's even a competition with Fitzpatrick. Smith would have plenty of weapons at his disposal as the starter with Eric Decker, Jace Amaro and the addition of Brandon Marshall, but he has to take advantage of his opportunity. If Smith does open the season as the starter he would be just a low-end No. 2 Fantasy quarterback, and he's not worth drafting in the majority of leagues.
(Updated 4/21/15)